London mayor Sadiq Khan has backed down on a threat of large-scale cuts to the capital’s bus network after finding additional funding of around £25m a year.
Transport for London (TfL) said that substantial cuts to the central and inner London bus network were proposed ‘due to the Government’s COVID funding deal’ but additional funding provided by the mayor allowed it to reassess its proposals for the bus network and cancel the changes Londoners were most concerned about.
It added that Mr Khan ‘has been able to identify additional funding for TfL averaging around £25m per year....in addition to a £500m City Hall financing facility, which is still required for TfL to maintain a balanced budget'.
TfL said it will still go ahead with 22% of the service changes consulted on, which it said are all in areas with numerous alternative public transport options and in areas where following the changes there will be enough capacity on buses to meet demand. Passengers will still be able to make the same journeys, with additional interchanges in some instances, it added.
Mr Khan, who is chair of TfL, said: ‘I was furious on behalf of Londoners that TfL was having to consider reducing the bus network due to conditions attached by the Government to the funding deal. The strength of feeling across the capital was clear to me, and I was adamant that I would explore every avenue available to me to save as many buses as possible.
‘This will mean tough decisions elsewhere, but I am very pleased that the vast majority of bus routes proposed to be cut due to the Government’s funding conditions can now be saved. TfL has looked carefully at the small amount of routes still affected in order to reduce the impact on passengers as much as possible.’
London TravelWatch CEO Joanna Davidson said: 'Cuts to bus routes would have disproportionately affected lower paid and disabled Londoners – so it’s really positive news that many of these proposals have been shelved based on our recommendations.'
This article was first published by Transport Network.
